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Lately I have been rediscovering the joy of putting on my makeup leisurely, even while my kids are most likely wreaking havoc. As a mom, I treat those few minutes as part of the small increments of me-time I try to squeeze in a day. I treat putting on makeup as way to add to my confidence and a part of caring for myself. For me, having kids means I need to take even better care of myself rather than neglecting myself.

In my experience, putting on makeup does not even take more than a couple of minutes. A good place to start is to look at your face and see what makes you look least presentable or sleepy and touch that up first when you’re really pressed for time. I personally hate leaving home without my brows. What makes me look like my baby kept me up all night is uneven complexion and a lack of color so when the going gets tough, a.k.a. I have to get two tiny humans out the door all by myself (one of which I also have to nurse), I can settle for bb cream or concealer to even out my skintone, lip and cheek mousse, and curling my lashes. This usually takes one minute to apply. Got an extra minute? Fill your brows and add mascara. If you have 5 minutes to spare, I suggest a wash of light eye shadow to make you look more awake or champagne/peppermint eyeliner on your bottom waterline plus brown eyeliner on your top eyelids.

Here are some beauty life-hacks I’ve developed while being mom to a 2-year old daughter and a 7-month old son:

Learn to do your makeup in the car

I grew up to my mom always primping in the car while my dad drove. Having 2 kids of my own, I’ve now become an expert at doing my face using the sun visor mirror or whatever product I have on hand that has the biggest mirror.

Choose double duty products

Multitasking moms need their multitasking beauty products. I like using lip and cheek mousse, foundation and concealer or bb cream with SPF, or a stick foundation that doubles as a concealer. I also love brow pencils with brow brushes on the other end.

Buy makeup that works

As mothers, we love to scrimp on ourselves because funds could be spent better elsewhere, but quality makeup is often worth the tag because it does the job. I usually like long wearing makeup because I won’t need touch-ups after. I often don’t even have space in my brain to check my face once my kids are up and about. After I’ve done my makeup, it better last me for at least 6 hours!

Use the right brushes

For example, use a stippling brush for liquid or cream base makeup because it blends and spreads product in a snap.

Take care of your skin

If you have healthy, clear skin, you already skip one to two steps, which saves even more time. So don’t forget to wash your face and apply moisturizer before turning in at night.

Bare or not, your face is beautiful

Smile and don’t be apologetic of your bare face if you bump into someone you know. You’re calling more attention to something they might not have even noticed. Spritz on your favorite perfume to help you feel ready for the day or pull out your big sunnies if you want to hide your lack of eye makeup.

Excited to blow out the candle on her Peppa Pig fondant cake by Thea’s Pastries by Jing Navarro

THEME

Peppa Pig was the obvious choice for Vera’s second birthday party. Up until then, she knew no other show. I started streaming Peppa Pig when she was a bit over a year old. The reason I introduced her to it was because of their family setup: Peppa was a big sister to a little brother, George. I was hoping that when I become pregnant again, it would be easy to explain having a sibling-she was Peppa and the baby would be George. Little did I know it was quite prophetic, Vera has her own “George” now in my son, our second born Mateo. I think I became pregnant just a few months after she started watching Peppa Pig. Truth be told, I’ve never really been able to use the show to explain her sibling! Haha.

Vera grew so fond of Peppa Pig. Before she could even talk, she would giggle each time we would sing the opening credits. If you asked her what Peppa Pig says, she would let out her own version of a snort. Today she can identify each member of the family, Peppa’s best friend, and can sing the opening credits herself. We weren’t planning on throwing her a second birthday party, but when my husband and I realized it would be her last party as an only child and before she learns to adjust to having sibling/s, we decided to take advantage of the milestone and use it to invest in her “love tank”.

We wanted a small and simple party for her. We actually didn’t throw her a first birthday party (much to her grandmothers’ horror, so they threw one for her instead) because we didn’t think she would remember it. But now that she shows excitement and fondness for birthdays, we knew it would be fun to show her that we celebrate her. Because she loves to swim, we thought a swimming party in our neighborhood would be simple enough. We felt that all the hooplah that comes with some children’s parties these days is more gratifying for the parents than enjoyable for the celebrant, so we wanted to ensure that her birthday party was something she would really enjoy and not just be nice in pictures.

Gabbie and Mika, fans of Peppa Pig and friends of Vera, enjoy swimming at the pool

Happy with her gift from Mamma and Pappa

Happy 2nd Birthday, Vera!

DETAILS AND DIY

It was challenging to pull off a Peppa Pig party because there isn’t a lot of Peppa Pig party merchandise. So, I took a trip to Lucky Chinatown Mall and stocked up on streamers, balloons, ribbons, plates, utensils, and cups in colors often used in he cartoon: pink, yellow, blue and green. I knew it didn’t have to be perfect. I didn’t want to spend and slave too much over the party and miss out on actually celebrating with my daughter. We rented and decorated a pool with a gazebo. My table spread looked more bootleg Peppa Pig because I just bought a bunch of cartolinas and glitters and drew Peppa with her house on the hill, with the help of one of Vera’s ninangs. It could’ve looked more like Peppa, but my daughter was so impressed when we were working on it that she missed her nap that day because she was so excited. That reminded me of what was most important about the celebration-my daughter.

I simply laid out her invites using Adobe Photoshop and sent it to her friends’ parents through Viber to save on paper. The other little detail to make it more “piggy” was buying pink hair bands for all the girls to make it look like they were also little pigs. We also let her friends take the hair bands home as a simple souvenir. We printed out different pictures of Peppa Pig and I used a calligraphy pen to write food labels. We prepared a simple merienda for the kids and adults, and one of our close friends had a Peppa Pig fondant cake made for her. We named our chocolate fountain “muddy puddles”—something Peppa and George loved to jump around in. We also gave away basic loot bags mostly with yummy food/snacks.

Vera before candle blowing. Behind is the DIY Peppa Pig backdrop I made with one of her ninangs

Pig ears hairbands/souvenirs placed inside mason jars, added a bit of “calligraphy” to dress it up

Birthday girl begging to stop taking pictures because she wants to go back and swim. Haha!

Here are my tips for throwing a party:

Focus on what’s important

In this case, we wanted to enjoy the party with our daughter and to shower her with love. I knew that if I went full throttle with DIY-ing, I would not have been able to do both. If you can delegate it or afford to hire someone so you can focus on being mommy, why not! But please don’t feel like you have to do everything and make everything look good at the price of sacrificing celebrating the milestone.

Work with what you have

If you’re on a budget, visit Divisoria and let your creativity do the work. A friend volunteered to print out some small Peppa Pig pictures which we used for some of the DIY details. It was the same when it came to the food, we served what we could make instead of trying new dishes.

Think of activities that will involve the celebrant

Quite often we’ve attended larger than life parties where the celebrant is left out of all the activities because he/she is too young. Isn’t it such a waste to spend and your child is unable to really enjoy?

Try to prepare what you can in advance

So that you can make space to enjoy the party and your family on the day. It would quite suck to have to run around and slave over so many things and miss out on all the fun. Don’t be pressured to make everything Pinterest-worthy. The kids don’t actually notice it. Not everything has to be perfect for Instagram. Live in the moments, put away your phone.

KATE is an online publication that provides women with relevant information and practical advice on home decor, entertaining, style, life’s little extras, and all things beautiful. It is a 747 Media publication.